298 THE DIAL [Nov. 16,
ever may have been her shortcomings morally, deserves to be mentioned along with the de Pompadours and other royal book-lovers. This lively dame left an epitaph on herself, thus rudely translated by Mr. Andrew Lang:
"Here lies, in sleep secure,
A dame inclined to mirth,
Who, by way of making sure,
Chose her paradise on earth."
No book-collector has left behind him a name more revered in all ways than Jean Grolier, whose fame is due, however, not more to his love of literature than to his delicate and refined taste in the decoration of the covers of his books. "They looked," said one enthusiast, "as if the muses had taken the outsides into their charge, as well as the contents, they were adorned with such art and esprit, and looked so gay, with a delicate gilding quite unknown to the bookbinders of our time."
The collectors of Spain embrace one great name of pertinent interest to our readers, that of Don Ferdinand, the son of Christopher Columbus and Donna Beatrix Enriquez. He was one of the most celebrated bibliophiles in Europe, and the founder of the library at Seville, "La Columbina." This library is still in existence, and contains some of the books of the great admiral, which bear his marginal notes—one of especial interest and value, the Imago Mundi, in which he wrote, anent the Portuguese discoveries, "in all which things I had my share."
In Mr. and Mrs. Elton's scholarly book there is so much to praise that we hesitate to point out such small defects as typographical errors, but these (pp. 32 and 84) should disappear from subsequent editions; and on pages 219 and 220, Nicholas Jarry's name should be properly spelled. W. Irving Way.
SALVINI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.[1]
More than ordinary interest attaches to the publication of the autobiography of a contemporaneous artist like Tomasso Salvini, celebrated alike in the old world and the new. The appearance of this volume first in the English language, and its issue from an American publishing house, attest Salvini's recognition of America's appreciation of the classic drama as interpreted by the foremost actor of his time. The dramatic art has overcome all obstacles and prejudices since the time of Shakespeare; and in Salvini's case it has risen superior even to the limitation of language, for nowhere has he found more intelligent consideration than among the American people, to the mass of whom the language he speaks is entirely unfamiliar. Of this he himself testifies through-out his book, which he practically closes with the following eloquent tribute:
"As I left that hospitable land [America] behind me, and saw the great statue of Liberty fade gradually from my sight, I felt a pang in my soul, and, if my eyes were dry, my heart wept. I made a salute to that country whose people are so full of vigor, industry, and courage, and who lack neither culture nor understanding nor feeling. May the United States receive the salutation of a humble artist who while his heart beats will feel for that nation respect and love."
There is perhaps a feeling of disappointment that Salvini's autobiography should follow so closely the form of a diary; but probably this could not have been otherwise. Salvini is an actor, not a writer. At the same time, there is much compensation in the fact that this style reveals the characteristics of the man, which include notably vanity, generosity, persistence, concentration, and, above all, a spirit of justice to himself and others. "I have the conscience to confess," he says, "that I have not always risen to the height of my own conception. I have never had a more severe critic than myself in matters pertaining to my art." Yet he recounts his numerous triumphs with an ingenuous glow of language which brings a smile to the lips of the reader. But as an insight into the character of the man who writes his own biography is the greatest favor he can confer upon his readers, Salvini's candor is rather commendable than blameworthy. It should also be noted that he writes of other great artists whom he has seen—Ristori, Rossi, Rachel, Irving, Edwin Booth, and others—in the same spirit of enthusiasm.
He has kept in mind the purpose of doing some good with his book, for in many passages there is valuable advice to members of his profession; and in one place he says:
"The chief object of these memoirs is to make it known to anyone whom it may aid, how a young man, without inherited resources, and constrained to look out for himself from very early years, can, by upright conduct, firm resolution, and assiduous effort, acquire in time some renown and the means for enjoying the comforts of life in his old age without being dependent on anybody."
Among the most interesting parts of Salvini's book are those which relate to his own methods of study and delineation of character on the stage, to the various characteristics of
- ↑ Leaves from the Autobiography of Tommaso Salvini. New York: The Century Company.
